Customer Service in Your Home Based Business - It Can Make or Break You

Have you ever been shopping and the salesperson ignored you? How did it make you feel to receive such poor customer service? Most people would say that they would never return to the store. Poor customer service can cost you more than clients, but it can cost you money in your home based business. Yet there are ways to provide good customer service in your home based business that work to keep customers happy and coming back for more.

First, find your niche. Good customer service begins with offering your customers something that they cannot get anywhere else. Find that one customer service area that separates you from the rest and use it to provide great customer service in your home based business.

Another way to provide impeccable customer service is to not waste time on tasks that can be done via computer or in another automated way. Use templates for correspondence or an automated money management program to save time, thus moving your energies over to providing great customer service to your clientele. Also, don't waste time doing small tasks that are unproductive. Streamlining your filing method or having junk mail automatically filtered will again allow you to have more ability to provide better customer service in your home based business.

Focusing your advertising on those that need your services allows you to provide great customer service in your home based business. If your advertising method is not working to support your consumers, then provide better customer service in your home based business by changing the way you market your products.

Being prompt in responding to consumer needs and following up are absolutely key to providing great customer service in your home based business. Clients like to know you care about their needs, and they do not like to wait for an answer or an order. Follow up is also important, as great customer service in your home based business begins by not making the client feel ignored.

One area that is highly debated in the area of providing excellent customer service in your home based business is the refund policy. Some of the most successful businesses do all that they can to provide excellent customer service, and they will offer refunds or exchanges with no questions asked. Be willing to work with your consumers to provide great customer service in your home based business.

Read the rest of the article here: Customer Service in Your Home Based Business [http://www.charlesfuchs.com/articles2/customer-service-in-your-home-based-business.htm].

Download the Free Quick Start Workbook [http://www.charlesfuchs.com/QuickStartWorkBook.pdf] (Free $97 Value!) and receive valuable tips, strategies and techniques designed to grow a very successful Home Based Business.

Copyright © Charles Fuchs is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Home Based Business. He has also created dozens of articles such as MLM Leads and Make Money Online.

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.

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How To Start Your Own Cleaning Service Business (Office Cleaning & House Cleaning)

House and apartment cleaning services are gaining in popularity. The main reason for this is due to families that have 2 working adults/parents in the home. The overworked family has no time for cleaning their home. Their need to supplement the family income creates the opportunity for you to set up a lucrative business.

Ten years ago, businesses of this kind were serving only the affluent - homes of the wealthy people where people didn't want to be bothered with the drudgery of house cleaning, and had the money to pay someone to do it for them. But times have changed, and today the market includes many middle-income families in every residential area across the entire country. The potential market among apartment dwellers is great also. All in all this is a business that has grown fast, and has as much real wealth building potential as any we can think of.

Cleaning services are generally associated with women owners, however, men are finding that they can organize, start, and operate very profitable home and apartment cleaning businesses just as well as women. It's an ideal business for any truly ambitious person wanting a business of his or her own, especially for those who must begin with limited funds. Actually, you can start this business right in your own neighborhood, using your own equipment, and many items you already own.

Many enterprising homemakers are already doing this kind of work on a small scale as an extra income-producing endeavor. There's a growing need for this service. Organizing your efforts into a business producing $40,000 or more a year is quite possible, and you can get started for $100 or so, always using your profits to expand and increase your business.

In most cases, no experience is required. Everyone knows how to dust the furniture, vacuum carpets, make the beds and carry out the trash. But you must ask yourself if making a house clean and bright is important and uplifting work. If you look on it as degrading or as drudgery, don't involve yourself in this business.

Pricing your services will always be a constant challenge for you. You will learn as you go. The pricing really depends on you, the services you provide and how thorough you are. To start off, your best bet is to figure out what you need to make ends meet per week. Then, divide that number by amount of hours you want to work per week. Then be sure to add any expenses you will incur by working that many hours (ie. Daycare, Gas, Cleaning Supplies, Insurance, Equipment Repairs, Etc.) Also count on a little downtime for traveling between jobs, sick days, auto breakdowns, etc.

As a general rule, you shouldn't charge less than $12.00 - $15.00 (USD) per hour, per person on a job (depending on where in the world you are located. Most cleaning companies will charge $20-$30 (USD) per hour, per person. This is just a guide, and some parts of the US or other countries may be much different.

Here is an example:

A 2-Bathroom, 3-Bedroom house with a Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Hallways, Stairs and a family room, will approx. take 4 labor hours as long as there is not a lot of clutter (always be sure to notice the amount of clutter and how dirty/dusty the home is when doing an estimate and take that under consideration). Labor hours means the amount of time it will take multiplied by the number of people cleaning. For example... A 4 hour labor job breaks down like this:1 person-4 hours, 2 people-2 hours, 3 people-1.33 hours, etc.). I personally wouldn't recommend charging less than $15.00 /hr. Charging $15.00/hr would bring this job to $60.00 Per visit. Charging $20.00/hr would bring this job to $80.00

You want to be sure you charge enough to provide a quality service. If a prospective customer is trying to lower your rates, they are not worth having. It's ok to be higher than another company as you should never try to gain new customers by just offering the lowest price. Always sell the quality of your work rather than the price!

Customers will expect to pay more for cleaning services that offer a quality service and bring their own supplies and equipment. Make sure if you are using your own equipment, you put a lot of effort into finding the right products. Customers like name brand products being used in their homes and offices.

Customers will also expect to pay more if your company is insured. Insurance is well worth the investment to protect yourself and your company in the event something gets lost, broken, or damaged. It is also a wonderful selling tool.

Remember... Sell quality, not cost!

TIP::::: You should consider providing services in schedule friendly timing:

- Weekly is every week

- Bi-weekly is every 2 weeks

- Monthly is every 4 weeks (not the same as coming the 1st of every month)

As far as supplies and equipment is concerned, you should consider obtaining the following:

- Vacuum Cleaner with attachments, or 2 different vacuums

- Paper towels

- Terrycloth rags

- Furniture polish

- Glass cleaner

- Multi-purpose cleaner

- Bath tub/Shower cleaner

- Toilet Bowl Cleaner

- Abrasive cleanser (like comet)

- Sponges (consider using sponges with an abrasive side and a soft side)

- Feather Duster

- Caddy (to carry it all)

- And anything else you may need to perform the services that you offer

You also need an advertising campaign of some sort. Most people start out using the classified ads and the Internet. A listing on the Cleaning Service Directory (www.house-cleaning-services.com) is very inexpensive and can help you get leads quickly.

Another point to make is that customers are willing to pay a premium for cleaning services that are well established and well known. Be sure to advertise in your local newspaper and direct customers to your Web site. A Web site is a great place for potential customers to read more about your company, see your credentials, look at testimonials from your other customers and explore the other services that you may offer. A Web site also provides one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising that works 24/7! Getting your name out there will provide name recognition, and install confidence that you are a legitimate company that people can trust. To find out more about getting your company online, visit http://www.modernconcepts.org

You might also want to consider creating a flyer, such as the following:

HOUSE CLEANING / APARTMENT CLEANING

We do the work - You relax and take it easy.

You get the best job in town, at rates you can afford.

Your satisfaction is always guaranteed!

For more details,

Call Jane Doe: 123-4567 - ABC Cleaning Services!

Here's an idea for making a flyer....

Visit your stationery store to pick up a pad of "fade out" graph paper, a couple of sets of transfer (rub-on) letters, a glue stick, and if they have one, a Clip Art book.

Take these materials home and clear off your kitchen table. Take a sheet of graph paper, and temporarily tape the corners down on the table. Then take a pencil and a ruler, and mark a rectangle five inches wide by six inches long along the lines of the graph paper. This will be the overall size of your flyer when it's finished.

Look for a Clip Art piece depicting a harried housewife engrossed with either cleaning tools or in the act of running a vacuum cleaner, or some other household chore. Cut this piece out, and with your glue stick paste it in the upper left-hand corner of your rectangle. Then take your transfer letters and make the headline: HOME OR CLEANING. Next, type out the body of the message on ordinary white typing paper. Be sure to use a relatively new ribbon, preferably a black carbon ribbon, and upper case letters. Cut this strip out, and paste it onto the graph paper, centered just below your headline. Then use some transfer letters that are about twice as large as your typewriter type, and paste up the action part of your message: For details, call Sue: 123-4567. Cut out a couple of border flourishes from your Clip Art book, paste them under your action line, and you're ready to take it to the printer.

In essence, you have a professional advertising "billboard." You can check around in your area, especially with the advertising classes at your local colleges, but generally they'll do no better than you can do on your own, using the instructions we've just given you, and they'll charge you $50 to $100.

Once you have this advertising flyer completed, take it to a nearby quick print shop and have about 200 copies printed. You should be able to get two copies on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, and running 100 sheets of paper through the press should cost under $10. For just a few cents more, have the printer cut them in half with his machine cutter, so you will have 200 copies of the advertising flyer.

Now take these flyers, along with a box of thumbtacks, and put them up on all the free bulletin boards you can find - grocery stores, Laundromats, beauty salons, office building lounges, cafeterias, post offices, and wherever else such announcements are allowed.

Handling the customers...

When a prospective customer calls, have your appointment book and a pencil handy. Be friendly and enthusiastic. Explain what you do - everything from changing the beds to vacuuming, dusting and polishing the furniture and cleaning the bathroom to the

dishes and the laundry. Or, everything except the dishes and the laundry - whatever you have decided on as your policy. When they ask how much you charge, simply tell them, you'll need to see the home and make a detailed estimate for them. Then without much of a pause, ask if 4:30 this afternoon would be convenient for them, or if 5:30 would be better. You must pointedly ask if you can come to make your cost proposal at a certain time, or the decision may be put off, and you may come up with a "no sale."

Just as soon as you have an agreement on the time to make you cost proposal and marked it in your appointment book, ask for name, address and telephone number.

Jot this information down on a 3 by 5 card, along with the date and the notation: Prospective Customer. Then you file this card in a permanent card file. Save these cards, because there are literally hundreds of ways to turn this prospect file into real cash, once you've accumulated a sizeable number of names, addresses and phone numbers.

When you go to see your prospect in person, always be on time. A couple of minutes early won't hurt you, but a few minutes late will definitely be detrimental to your closing the sale. Always be well groomed. Dress as a successful business owner. Be confident and sure of yourself; be knowledgeable about what you can do as well as understanding of the prospect's needs and wants. Do not smoke, even if invited by the prospect, and never accept a drink - even coffee - until after you have a signed contract in your briefcase.

Once you've made the sale, the best thing is to shake hands with your new customer, thank him or her, and leave. A little small talk after the sale is appropriate, but becoming too friendly is not. You create an impression, and preserve it, by maintaining a business-like relation ship.

When you go to make your cost estimate, take along a ruled tablet such as those used by elementary school students, carbon paper, a calculator and your appointment book. Some people find it easier to work with a clipboard and ordinary blank paper with

carbon. Later on, you may want to have general checklists printed up for each room in the house, with blank lines or space for special instructions.

Whatever you use, it's important to appear methodical, thorough and professional, while leading the prospect through the specifics he or she wants you to take care of: "Now, you want the carpet vacuumed and all the furniture dusted and those two end tables, the coffee table and the piano polished as well, I assume?"

Simply identify the specific room at the top of the sheet of paper, then lead your prospect through the cleaning steps of each room, covering everything in it. Your implications of putting everything in "ready for company" shape will cause the customer to

forget about the cost, and hire you to do a complete job. Always have a carbon paper under each piece of paper you're writing on, and always look around each room one more time before leaving it; then ask the prospect if he or she can think of any special instructions you should note for that room.

Finally, when you've gone through each room in the house with the prospect, come back to the kitchen and sit down at the table. Take out your calculator and add up the time you estimate each job in each room will take to complete. Total the time for each room.

Be liberal, thinking that if you can do the carpet job in 15 minutes, it will usually take the ordinary person 30 minutes. Convert the total minutes for each room into hours and tenths of hours per room. Add the totals for each room to arrive at your total hours to clean the entire house.

Talk with your customer briefly, wondering how she can ever find the time to get everything done at home, especially when holding down a full-time job. A little bit of small talk, a quick mental evaluation of the customer's ability to pay, plus your knowledge that you can get everything done in four hours, instead of the six hours it would take most people.

Here is an example of a typical conversation between you and the prospective client:

"Well, Mrs. Johnson, you've certainly got enough routine cleaning work to keep you busy all day every day of the week! I certainly don't know how you do it, but any way, we'll take this whole problem off your shoulders, save you time, and actually give you time to relax. We charge $100 for monthly visits, or $80.00 for bi-weekly visits.

"I can well imagine how tired you are when you get home from work. If you're at all like me there are times when, faced with all this housework, you want to run away someplace and hide. Now, we'll take care of everything for you - keep the house spic and

span, ready for company, allow you to forget about housecleaning chores, and for a lot less than it's costing you now in time, work, and worry. And we guarantee that our work will more than satisfy you. So, would you like to try our cleaning service one time for $75 or do you want to save $15 a call and let us take over all these chores for you on a regular basis?"

Here you begin finding a place in your appointment book, and tell her: "Actually, I have an opening at 8:30 on Tuesday morning. We could come in every other Tuesday at 8:30, clean the whole house and have it done before you get home from work."

The customer agrees that 8:30 on Tuesdays will be fine. Then you ask her if she prefers to be billed with the completion of each house cleaning session or on a regular monthly basis. Point out to her that by engaging you on a monthly basis , she picks up

a free house cleaning every three months.

Now that you have your first customer, you want to fill in every day of the week, each week of every month with regular jobs. Once you have one week of each month filled with regular jobs, it will be time for you to expand.

Expansion means growth, involving people working for you, more jobs to sell, and greater profits. Don't let it frighten you, for you have gained experience by starting gradually. After all - your aim in starting a business of your own was to make money, wasn't it? And expanding means more helpers so you don't have to work yourself to death!

You can operate this business quite successfully from the comfort of your home, permanently, if you choose to. All you'll ever need is a telephone, a desk, and a file cabinet.

So, just as soon as you possibly can, recruit and hire other people to do the work for you. The first people you hire should be people to handle the cleaning work. The best plan is to hire people to work in teams of two or three - two for jobs not including dishwashing and laundry - three for those that do.

You can start these people at minimum wage or a bit above, and train them to complete every job assignment in two hours or less. Just as soon as you've hired and trained a couple of people as a cleaning team, you should outfit them in a kind of uniform with your company name on the back of their blouses or shirts. A good idea also would be to have magnetic signs made for your company and services. Place these signs on the sides of the cars your people use for transportation to each job, and later on, the sides

of your company van or pick-up trucks.

Each team should have an appointed team leader responsible for the quality and over all completeness of each job assigned to that team. The team might operate thus: One person cleans the bathrooms and kitchen, while the other person dusts and polishes the furniture and does the vacuuming. On jobs where you do the laundry and the dishes, the third person can pick up the laundry and get that started, and then do the dishes and clean the kitchen. By operating in this manner, your work will be more efficient and the complete job will take a lot less time. However, it is important that each person you hire understand that the success of the business depends on the "crew" doing as many complete jobs as they can handle each day - not on how much they get paid per hour working for you.

Your team leaders will check with you each afternoon for the next day's work assignments and gather the team together, complete with cleaning equipment and material, on the next day. Your team leader should be supplied with a stack of "hand-out" advertising flyers to pass around the neighborhood or within the apartment building before leaving each job site. A good supply of business cards wouldn't be a bad idea for them either, in order to advertise your services to others they come in contact with. The

only other form of advertising you should go with would be a display ad in the yellow pages of your telephone directory.

Design on paper a system of clean-up operation that can generally be applied to any situation, then drill your teams on speeding up their activities to make the system work even better. Just as firemen practice and practice, you should drill your people as a team in their cleaning activities.

Probably the biggest time-wasters in this business will be in the travel from job to job. For this reason, it's important to spread advertising circulars to the neighboring homes when you're doing a job, or to the apartments on the same floor when you're in an apartment building. As the organizer, and person assigning teams to jobs, it will behoove you to locate, line up, and assign jobs as close together as possible. Keep up efforts to cut the time it takes for your crews to travel from one job to the next. Work at lining up jobs all in one block, or in one apartment building.

One of the most important aspects of this business is asking for, and allowing your customers to refer other prospects to you. All of this happens, of course, as a result of your giving fast, dependable service. You might even set up a promotional notice on the back of your business card (to be left as each job is completed) offering five dollars off their next cleaning bill when they refer you to a new prospect.

Good luck!!

** Please note: You are responsible for running and maintaining your business correctly. The information provided here is for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for the information contained in this document. For this reason, be sure to use your best judgment and be responsible for your own actions.

http://www.house-cleaning-services.com

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Autoresponder Services that Boost Your Business

In the world of ecommerce, millions of sites are fiercely competing with each other to gain new clients. For any ecommerce site to succeed, it must capture the interest and the trust of its visitors. It is not enough that your site is impeccably designed or has the latest in animation or content. You should focus your efforts not only in attracting visitors but also in leading them to make a purchase. There are dozens of marketing strategies you can use to attract more buyers and pump up your sales. One of them is by establishing an excellent and professional reputation for prompt and efficient response.

As more potential customers visit your site, you should expect a flood of inquiries and requests for information. This is an excellent opportunity for you to capture more clients and lead them to buying from your site. Thus, it is important that you carry out an efficient and prompt response to every email you receive. The fastest and most effective way to do this is by utilizing Autoresponder services.

Autoresponder services use a computer program that automatically returns a prewritten message to anyone who sends an email to your site. It is widely used for responding to consumer inquiries and visitor comments and suggestions. Autoresponder services are also used by e-zines in responding to people who subscribe or unsubscribe to their online magazines. Companies, who send out their e-newsletters regularly, also use Autoresponder services.

How can effective Autoresponder services help boost your business? The answer lies in its ability to return a prompt response to any e-mail the site receives. By responding rapidly and efficiently, you create a very good impression on your potential customer. Good Autoresponder services help you get important information back to these customers immediately. An effective Autoresponder service helps you communicate your message promptly, creating a sense of professionalism and efficiency that your clients will definitely appreciate.

Another very important advantage of Autoresponder services is that it saves time with multiple marketing tasks. Certainly, you do not have enough time to personally make and send all correspondence. Autoresponder services allows you to send thank you letters, newsletters, product information, brochures, orders etc. to hundreds of clients almost immediately and simultaneously. Autoresponder services are also indispensable in any email marketing campaign.

Choosing the right Autoresponder services is very important. What then should you look for in an Autoresponder service? First, you should pick an Autoresponder service that is reliable and can give you 24/7 service. You cannot afford to lose a customer because your Autoresponder service failed to answer his query or request for information. The ability to respond promptly is the first thing you must look for in any Autoresponder services.

Another key factor you should consider when choosing Autoresponder services is flexibility. Good Autoresponder services allow you to customize unique responses that will have maximum effect on the customer. You should avoid creating an impression that the customer is communicating with a machine instead of a real human being. Excellent Autoresponder services lets you provide the information that is specifically targeted for what the potential customers are looking for. Because any email from potential customers essentially represent the customer's intent on getting more information about your product, which can ultimately lead to direct sales, all emails are important. Thus, a top Autoresponder service must fulfill all these duties to help you boost your business.

Dirk Wagner is the CEO of http://www.internetmarketingoasis.com and creator of the #1 IMO Marketing Toolbar with hundreds of secret resources.He is the publisher of the free home business online course at http://www.team4success.biz and also Author of several eBooks like "Cure Myopia Naturally" at http://www.curemyopianaturally.com

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What's the Customer Service Buzz About Your Business?

If you're a regular reader of my column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying hard-earned money for a product or service only to have the provider of said product or service become apathetic, obnoxious or just downright rude after the transactional smoke has cleared.

The bottomline, my entrepreneurial friend, is this: it doesn't matter if your product is fast food, slow food, retail goods, computers, lawn mowers, books, real estate or automobiles, if a customer is willing to pay you good money in exchange for your product or service that customers deserves to be treated with gratitude and respect, before and after the sale. Period. I'm constantly amazed at how many business owners and the frontline employees who represent them seem to forget this simple fact.

It's like the old saying about getting a little respect in the morning. If you court me before the sale, you'd better respect me afterward. Just because you have my money in your pocket and I have your product in my hand, that does not mean that my needs have been fully satisfied or that my expectations have ceased to exist. To the contrary, our relationship is just getting started. It's up to you how well we will get along and how long our relationship will last.

Here's the point: customer service should not stop after the sale. In fact, customer support AFTER the sale can have greater impact on the success of your business than customer support before the sale.

Nothing generates negative buzz about a business like bad customer service, and nothing will drive nails in a business' coffin faster. News of bad customer service travels like lightning and spreads like wildfire. Think back to the last time you were on the receiving end of bad customer service. I'd be willing to bet that you immediately went out into the world and told everyone you met about the experience. You probably also warned them to "never do business with those &^%$ or you'll get treated the same!"

As a business person, it should be your mission to make every customer a repeat customer, and one of the best ways to do that is by delivering superior customer service every time that customer comes through your door. Superior customer service leads to increased customer satisfaction, which leads to repeat business, which leads to customer loyalty. It is also much cheaper to keep a customer than to obtain a new one.

The fast food industry is especially prone to customer service problems. This is due in large part to the fact that every transaction is a face-to-face sale and the average fast food worker is a disgruntled teenager who would rather be lying on a bed of nails than standing behind a fast food counter schlepping fries.

However, that doesn't always have to be the case. This is not meant as an ad for Chic Filet or as a slam at Taco Bell, but the difference in customer service between these two fast food titans is astounding.

I used to frequent both establishments (fast food is my crack), so this is the voice of experience speaking. Behind the counter at the local Chic Filet are young people who seem genuinely happy to be of service. They are clean cut and polite. They don't wear their baseball caps sideways or have anything visibly pierced. They look me in the eye, they smile like there is no place on earth they would rather be, and they ask for my order in clear, concise English. They thank me profusely and invite me to come again. Excellent customer service after the sale.

Inversely, a recent trip to a local Taco Bell almost ended on an episode of Cops because the young lady behind the counter grew angry when I politely pointed out that my nachos were stale and asked for a fresh bag (pet peeve #132: stale nachos). Miss Mary Sunshine snatched the offending nachos from my hand and slam dunked them in a trash can, then tossed a replacement bag (which were also stale) on the counter in front of me. She then gave me a look that clearly said that if I had any further complaints she'd be happy to escort me outside to discuss them in detail. I like nachos, but not so much that I would risk getting my behind kicked by a disgruntled teenage girl wearing a sideways Taco Bell cap. Not-so-excellent customer service after the sale.

Now, which restaurant do you think I will go to the next time I feel the need to feed my fast food monkey? And which restaurant do you think I enthusiastically recommend to my friends? The one that understands the importance of good customer service before and after the sale, of course.

The worst customer service experience I've ever had involved the purchase of a vehicle at a local used car lot. I purchased the used Ford Expedition on a Friday evening and when problems arose with the vehicle over the weekend, I went back to the dealership on Monday morning to speak with the sales manager. To say the least, the sales manager (who acted like my best friend on Friday) was not thrilled to see me on Monday. To make a very long story short, when I pointed out that he wasn't being very helpful after the sale he came around the desk yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his hands in my face. By the time the receptionist managed to calm him down, the sales manager had gone so far as to call me "a retarded idiot" (which may be considered redundant) and had instructed me to do something with the vehicle that I believe is anatomically impossible. It was an Expedition, I'm a little guy. Use your imagination.

Though the dealership owner later apologized and offered to take care of any problem I had, the damage to his business had already been done. The bad buzz machine started the second I left his lot.

Do you think I told everyone I met about my experience with that dealership? You bet your stale nachos I did. Do you think I will ever buy another car from that dealership? Not on your life. Do you think anyone I've told about the experience will buy a car from that dealership? Probably not. Do you think the owner and sales manager learned anything from the experience? We can only hope.

In the end, what is the value of great customer service before and after the sale?

Priceless, my friend.

Simply priceless.

Now, can somebody please get me some fresh nachos...

Tim Knox, Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker, Radio Host Founder, The Insiders Club, Giving You The Power To Start Your Business Today www.theinsidersclub.com Bestselling Author of: "Everything I Know About Business I Learned From My Mama" www.timknox.com

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10 Tips To Incorporating A Business With An Online Incorporation Service

If you're incorporating a business, read these 10 tips for incorporating a business with an online incorporation service.

10 Tips To Incorporating a Business with an Online Incorporation Service

1. Budget Properly

When budgeting, note that the State/Province filing fees are in addition to the stated incorporation service cost. Each State/Province has prescribed fees that may cost as much or even more than the incorporation service.

Moreover, understand the full scope of your needs and then price those requirements among the services. Maybe you need a trademark register and/or are closing an existing business. These are add-on services that you might be able to arrange favorable pricing in a bundle.

2. Assess the Customer Support

We all like communicating in different ways. Maybe you prefer e-mail. Other people prefer phone.

Be sure the incorporation service you choose offers a support mode that suits you. For significant purchases such as incorporating a business, I assess customer support before a purchase by the level of assistance I get with the sales department.

Of course, the sales assistance isn't 100% indicative of the actual support you'll receive, but it's a good start in your decision-making process.

Some online incorporation services offer access to an attorney. If you require legal advice to determine the structure and other details of your incorporation, then the service with access to legal advice may be the service for you.

3. Understand Your Needs

There are many options when incorporating a business. The more common structures include:


Regular C-Corporation
S-Corporation
Professional Corporation
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Non-Profit Corporation
Professional Limited Liability Company.

Moreover, determine whether you have any unique Articles of Incorporation needs to incorporate into your Articles of Incorporation.

If you have complex requirements, you may be better off hiring your own business attorney to do the incorporation for you.

If you're intent on an online service, then look at the packages each sells. Most incorporation services offer packages that result in savings. Choose the package that suits your needs best.

4. Choose a Service that Reviews Your Information?

When you use an online incorporation service, you provide information to series of questions. Choose a service that will review your answers and will then seek clarification if unclear or there's something not right.

In other words, look for a service that's actively involved in your incorporation - and not merely relying on software to spit out documents without any human review.

5. Consider Future Needs of your Company's Paperwork

Your incorporation will require ongoing paperwork - annual filings and perhaps additional documentation and/or changes. Ensure the service you choose offers all the follow-up services you may require in the future. The above-listed services are full-service online incorporation services that offer the ongoing services you may require.

Some future/additional services you might need include:


trademark and/or copyright registration,
filing a foreign qualification,
obtaining a business name (DBA),
obtaining an employer identification number,
closing a business, and/or
obtaining a business license.

6. Check out Testimonials, Media Coverage & Accolades

One easy way to find out if an incorporation service delivers, is to read what other people have to say. Read the testimonials on the services' websites. See what kind and scope of media coverage the service received.

Do positive testimonials mean your business incorporation will proceed flawlessly? Absolutely not. However, it's an indicator of what you might expect.

7. Can You Make Changes?

This is a very important service feature to look into. You might change your mind once you submit your incorporation order to a particular service. Find out whether the service will work with any changes / revisions you need after you submit your order.

8. Independent Legal Advice?

In an abundance of caution, you might have an attorney look over drafted documents before your incorporation documents are submitted for filing. Maybe you're thinking this would defeat the purpose of using an online service. Not necessarily. You'll still save the time of the attorney preparing the documents.

This attorney review is simply getting independent legal advice... which can't hurt.

9. Are You In a Hurry?

Sometimes you need your business incorporated immediately. Then you may opt for a service that can expedite the service very quickly. Note that some States have a set processing time which ties the hands of any incorporation service to expedite the service to your desired speed.

10. Auto-Annual Document Processing

Some services offer auto-annual filing. This is a great service so your incorporation documents are processed on time. However, you'll also be auto-billed for this as well.

So, if you switch services, be sure you cancel any auto-billing/service with your previous incorporation service otherwise you'll pay double.

Which incorporation services meet these criteria?

Check out this online incorporation services comparison chart to discover several prominent online incorporation services.

Or, read an in-depth review of this full-scale online incorporation services giant to see read about a quality service provider.

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Importance of Business Services Is Second to None

What are the various business services that I should consider?

Business services include a whole host of services including client refreshments, postal services, copy services, meeting rooms and training rooms, telephone handsets and call packages, wireless internet access, purchasing discounts and others.

The decision to opt for services are governed by your business needs. The trade-off is between engaging your own resources versus seasoned professionals of the service providers. The decision is between taking a longer time to get started versus getting started right away with the available and well oiled administrative services.

Can business services be customized as per my needs?

The range of customization of business services offered depends upon the service office provider. It could be an off-the-shelf package that offers little or no customization or it could be pick-and-choose from the boutique of services provided.

At a short notice the service options can be individually scaled to your changing needs and expanded to include the items and services that are most important to you.

As an example, the services of a business centre can be tailored to very specific needs. As an alternative to the full-service office, various combinations of services can be provided as well. In addition, they offer a variety of standard services: copier and fax machine, access to meeting rooms with state-of-the-art conference technology, etc. Professional staff answer calls in the company name; welcome visitors and handle clerical or secretarial work. The advantage to the clients is that all services are offered on a pay-as-you-go basis. In other words, they only pay for services and facilities they are actually using.

How much do I pay for it?

There are multiple different payment models for availing the business services. It could range anywhere from a completely variable option on a pay-as-you-go-basis, being partially variable or a fixed service with monthly, quarterly or annual payment options.

How can a business centre support you?

Serviced office provider such as Avanta offer an attractive business service package with NO hidden costs, which give its customers a clear advantage above the competition. Their goal is to provide you with the business services you need when you need them.

Business services for entrepreneurs or small businesses can be bundled with your physical office or virtual office membership at Avanta, and clients can purchase "Business Services on Demand" as needed. Avanta's virtual receptionist will answer calls using your company's customized greeting and route each call per your instructions. Each office at Avanta comes equipped with a full-service, IP-based PBX phone system featuring call routing, voicemail and low-cost long distance rates.

Why don't you combine various business services such as internet connectivity, client refreshments and postal services into a simple, monthly package? This gives you the ability to forecast and plan their total cost when taking using a business centre in Delhi.

Listed below are some of the business services offered by Avanta India;

- Client refreshments

- Postal services

- Copy services

- Meeting rooms and training rooms

- FREE high speed wireless & internet access in communal areas

- Business support & purchasing

- Bandwidth & telecom packages including free local and intra-circle calls

- Telephony services

- Internet connectivity

Author: Nitin Namdeo
Online Marketing Manager at Avanta http://www.avanta.co.in
Avanta Business centres India offers highly flexible, unbranded cost effective serviced office space, Meeting rooms and Virtual offices in New Delhi.

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Your Durable Medical Equipment Business May Need a Durable Answering Service

Many patients, such diabetics using insulin pumps and patients dependent upon wheelchairs or respiratory devices, depend on quick delivery and efficient maintenance of their durable medical equipment (DME) to keep them alive and well. If your business serves these clients, then you know you need to ensure there is seamless communication between patients and their DME provider. A single missed call can quickly become a serious problem.

If you own a DME business, you know your patients need to be able to reach you around the clock, but staffing your office for 24/7 support can be expensive in many ways. That is why most DME providers outsource their calls to a 24 7 answering service or doctors reply service. During lunch, or when the office is closed, DME providers call-forward their phone lines to a 24 7 service to take care of their clients. With the special needs of these patients, it is no surprise that many DME providers choose a doctors response service for the necessary level of customer support.

If you want to offer your patients 24/7 availability and specialized customer support, consider the services offered by a 24 7 service or doctors answering service:

Training - Choose a doctors answering service with agents who are specially trained and have experience in communicating compassionately, while being efficient and accurate. This training and experience is essential when your clients call a 24 7 service. Remember to confirm with the service provider that their agents have experience specifically with DME providers.
DME Experience - The agents at the doctors response service or 24 7 answering service must know the difference between a nebulizer and a CPAP machine. They also need to understand the unique challenges for a patient needing oxygen or transfusion therapy, which may require escalating that particular call for immediate help.
Equipment Support- The 24 7 answering service can provide immediate customer support related to callers' equipment issues. Agents can take messages for oxygen refills, note equipment-repair requests, correctly transcribe questions and take new-equipment orders. Based on the call protocols you provide, the doctors response service agents can then promptly direct these messages to the appropriate technician or respiratory therapist. A doctors reply service or 24 7 service with current technology can customize call scripts to meet your DME customer needs.
Sales Support - Your DME business also can benefit from sales-related calls that come into the 24 7 service or doctors reply service after regular hours. With agents answering questions from these callers and getting important information, you can increase your revenue outside of your regular office hours. The agents can capture new or repeat orders using either a developed database or your company's web site, CRM or operating system. The 24 7 service or doctors response service can even capture sales inquiries from new clients who may be getting released from the hospital.
HIPPA Compliance - It is important that the doctors answering service or 24 7 reply service understands the importance of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) -- created in 1996 to protect personal health information -- and how agents should handle such information. It is equally important for your answering-service provider to value and protect your relationship with referral sources such as hospitals, physicians, hospice and home health-care providers.

The doctors answering service or 24 7 reply service you choose should provide prompt, personal service that your clients and referral sources deserve, while freeing your technicians and respiratory therapists from time-consuming conversations and paperwork. Take care of your clients after hours, on the weekends and during holidays when you choose a doctors response service or 24 7 service that cares for your patients and your DME business when you can't.

Judy O'Brien is a freelance writer for Alert Communications, which offers a variety of small business answering services solutions, phone answering service, virtual receptionist services and doctors answering service.

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Managed Services - The Secret Sauce For A Successful Managed Services Business

Just for the moment, consider yourself a moderately successful IT service provider who sees the growing opportunity in managed services, is quickly developing the technology to support this burgeoning market and knows the secret - has in fact the secret "sauce" - to managing a successful managed services business.

Now liken yourself and your IT business to the owner of a fine dining establishment. The restaurant owner knows that his professional livelihood is built on the "meat and potatoes" of his operation, namely his fine selection of highly quality meats cooked to perfection. And he is convinced that his culinary success is due to the secret "sauce" he has created to adorn each entree. He even has a signature garnish that he places on top of each entree that makes it highly unique to him and a cut above his competition.

This same analogy applies to your IT business. Your company is probably beginning to shift away from the technology and the tools that deliver services to a realization that the managed services business is the "meat and potatoes" upon which your future livelihood will rest. Your "culinary" success will be due, in large part, to the special "sauce" you create to adorn each managed service you offer. That special "sauce" is your marketing strategy. The garnish you place on each managed service is the one unique fact or feature about your business -and how you market it - that sets you apart from your competitors.

So, what are the "meat and potatoes" of your business - the managed services you plan to offer your clients as you transition to a successful managed service business? How are you going to marketing those services - what "sauce" or "sauces" are you going to create to sell them? What "garnish" will you put on top - what fact or feature about your business is unique enough to separate and differentiate you from your competition?

First, let's talk about managed services. This is the "meat and potatoes" of your operation.

To optimize your overall performance as a successful managed services business, here are five key elements of the business to master. Mastery of these "secrets of success" will determine how well you do in the marketplace and positively impact your success and survivability as a managed services provider (MSP).

Core Technologies. The definition of managed services is expanding from infrastructure management and remote maintenance to the inclusion of software as a service. Selecting the right technology is one key piece of an effective MSP strategy. Successful MSPs typically use one of two types of software solutions - Professional Services Automation Software (PSA) and Remote Monitoring and Management Software (RMM). PSA blends such functions as customer relationship management (CRM), sales force automation, customer billing and troubleshooting into one single comprehensive platform. RMM allows the MSP to proactively maintain and troubleshoot customer systems and networks off-site.
Emerging Technologies. Up until now, MSPs were able to master basic PC and server administration. Today's MSPs face new challenges as the landscape of managed services continues to evolve. Now these MSPs have to master cloud and SaaS managements and learn how to tap into systems like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Apps, Microsoft Windows Azure and Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). Keeping pace with these options requires constant networking. Successful MSPs make this one of their biggest priorities.
Business Leadership. As you move from being a technology driven business to being a managed services provider, commitment from the CEO and top management is critical. Managed services will stall or fail completely without this commitment. CEOs don't have to master the MSP technologies but what they do need to do is this:
Promote recurring revenue streams as much as possible instead of quick break fix project work.
Track and improve customer service levels rather than billable hours.
Schedule frequent meetings to advise customers on those service levels and to discuss technologies that can further improve overall business performance.

Hiring & Firing, Sales Training & Compensation. The jury is still out on whether MSPs need to fire or replace staff as they push into managed services or work with existing staff to generate more and more recurring revenue. Sometimes MSPs find it works better if they augment their staff with outside talent, though many times this talent can be found within their existing rank-and-file. In more traditional IT companies, sales teams are generally paid a one-time commission for special projects revenue. In the managed services market, however, recurring revenue models create new opportunities and new challenges. The biggest challenge is keeping salespeople focused on longer-term, ongoing contracts rather than quick-hit project work. Without the proper compensation plans in place, salespeople may make half-hearted managed services calls and end up pitching a new technology product instead of the managed services you hope to sell. The best MSP in the most successful managed services business has clearly communicated compensation plans with well-defined goals and priorities that motivate the sales professional to look for more business and more opportunities for managed services from either existing clients or new ones.

Service Level Agreements. Successful MSPs know that without a well-designed and understood service level agreement in place, the clients will be expecting one thing and the MSP another. Using a solid service level agreement shows the client that you know what you are doing and that you will put both your reputation and wallet behind your word.

Now, let's talk about how you are going to marketing these managed services. What "sauce" or "sauces" are you going to create to sell this business model and bring value to the customer. The signature "sauce" you create and the ingredients you use to make it is the key to your success. Here are the three ingredients you need:

Marketing & Client Education. Managed services generates a significant amount of information about end users' activities and needs. Successful MSPs use that information to anticipate those needs and recommend applications and value-added services to help clients run their businesses more effectively. Using that information as part of a marketing strategy to better educate the customer is paramount. Many MSPs believe the client's lack of knowledge and understanding about the managed services business model is their greatest inhibitor to success. When the time comes to describe your managed services portfolio to clients, remember these three words - less is better. Skip the high-tech acronyms, the techie bells and whistles, and focus on the benefits to your client. Concentrate only on the services you offer that bring them real value, like customer satisfaction or service levels.

Marketing Strategies. To date, managed services has been about the technology, but today's successful MSPs are more focused on how to run their business well and deliver value to their customers. They know the importance of a successful business model, targeted sales strategies and value propositions and they are marketing all of that to their clients as part of their managing services portfolio. But the driving force behind the push to invest in a sales and marketing strategy is the company's commitment to sell the customer on the value the MSP can provide.

The New Marketing Model. Successful MSPs know that technology alone is not going to change their business. They know it's all about creating a business model of managed services and equipping themselves with the skills to run their business and to market it to a targeted audience. To build a successful marketing model, you need to do three things:

Define your product (managed services) from the client's perspective and sell it that way. Let client's know the advantages of this approach. Let them know you can provide them with software and spread costs over a number of clients. Tell them you can build more application experience than in-house staff. Assure them that your key software systems are kept up to date, available and managed for performance by experts. Let them know they will always have access to product and technology experts. Show them you can reduce their costs to a predictable monthly fee.
Know your client and let them know you know them. Let them know that you know it takes them six to 12 months to commit to a services program. Speak to them in their own language by speaking to the pains that you know that they have because they are common in the industry. Then show how you are uniquely qualified to resolve these pains and problems.
Use sales and marketing tools to your advantage to reach your client and, use only those with a proven return on investment. Schedule as many visits and meetings with the client as you can to advise them on service levels and to discuss new and emerging technologies to further improve business performance. Invite them to events like small business luncheons to get their thoughts and opinions on business trends or use of technology. Prepare hand-outs describing the benefits of predictable, flat-rate, proactive managed services programs. Create ongoing marketing and PR campaigns to announce new software products and technologies. Actively solicit customer endorsements.

Now, once again, liken yourself and your IT business to the owner of a fine dining establishment. We have defined the "meat and potatoes" of your operations - all of the managed services upon which your business in now built. We have given you the key ingredients to make your special "sauce" or "sauces" - client education, key marketing strategies and the new marketing model. Now all you need is that signature garnish you place on each of your products that is unique to you and you alone and a cut above your competition.

That garnish is a statement of who you are and how you present yourself. Are you ingenious? Are you creative? Are you capable of delivering the services required in a knowledgeable and innovative way? Do you communicate reliability and dependability? Are you empathic towards your client and their needs? What is it about you that makes the client want to do business with you and nobody but you? These are the intangible things that set you and your managed services business apart from your competitors. This is what your clients will remember.

This is a concise overview of what it takes to succeed as an MSP. Know your product. Know the market. Know your customer. Then move ahead and capitalize on the opportunities in managed services.

Now that you have tasted the "secret sauce" for managed services, you can get your hands on a complete built-for-you marketing system that will help you attract more clients, avoid expensive mistakes and win the managed services game. Go to http://www.managedservicesblueprint.com to claim your free audio CD on building an auto-pilot marketing system that attracts and closes high-profit managed services clients.

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Career Services Professionals - Recklessly Running a $50m Business

I have had extensive dealings with all types of career services professionals and have, unfortunately for the students of the universities, discovered that about only 1 out of 20 actually understand their job and are effective at it. To be an asset to the students, there are things that career services professionals need to understand:

The Students Are Clients of Theirs - They Are Clients That Pay A Lot of Money

The cost of a college education, before loan interest can run up to nearly $250,000. This money is spent to ensure that sons and daughters of hard working people get educated and, thus can contribute to society in a meaningful way. To do this, the students need to begin by obtaining a career that is right for them and is conducive to them being successful. Seemingly, a lot of career professionals like to work 9 - 5 hours. Why not? In academics it's hard to get fired. It seems as if a lot of career services professionals expect some sort of accolade for a 6 o'clocker.

If a school has roughly 10,000 students and, on average each student is paying $50,000 (this number factors in full tuition students, scholarship and mixed) that career services professional is carrying a client revenue stream of $50,000,000. However, most career service professionals shrug off the fact that companies 30% of this size have 24hr. support. The career services employees work for the students and exist to obtain one goal and one goal only - making the career goals of their clients a reality.

This means even if the career services professional has to claw through the dirt to get it done. Why are they different from the business world? What gives them exemption from execution?

The Professors Are Clients of Theirs

Professors spend years preparing to be able to educate young minds by obtaining MBAs and PhDs and, thus inspire the students to go out into the world, make an impact and do their best to live ethical, productive lives. Therefore, in this scenario, the professors are the sales representatives that go out and find the "leads" only to have a 9 - 5 career services not close the account. Career services professionals need to be very proactive and very appreciative of every single professor within that university because that is where their "leads" come from. No closer likes subpar leads. No lead generator can work with a subpar closer. In any company, regardless of industry, subpar closers see only one thing: the door.

Unfortunately, this mentality and understanding only exists in 5% of today's university career centers. Moreover, to better service their clients (students and professors), the career services representatives need to go to each class, introduce themselves as the "account manager" who has personally been designated to work with the clients (students) throughout the account cycle that is 4 or 5 years in this case.

For any good account manager who was carrying a quota of $50,000,000 going to a class and, subsequently servicing the two forms of clients they have at a single time is a no brainer. Companies spend millions of dollars per year in R & D attempting to figure out how to be this effective. Have most career services personnel? Nope.

Budgets Are Budgets - They Must Make Due with the Money Given Being underfunded is not an excuse. Companies are under funded all of the time, however they make due and, upon doing a stellar job for their clients (the students in this case) their corporate division can make a strong argument as to why more revenue needs to be diverted to their team because their success and client execution needs more resources. They don't understand it's not the other way around. Produce, then complain.

They Have Competitors

If you were to ask 95% of career service professionals who their competition was, they would immediately refer to their football rival three states away. Their competition are the schools that are close by and that have students that go up against their students for jobs. This is their competition; it's not another college due to the fact that they can dunk a basketball.

Career services professionals need to stop spending so much time living off a win in a sport done by actual athletes that have no affiliation with them, but the name on a jersey. Instead, they should analyze how the athletes accomplish what they do and bring that model into the career center.

It's just known that career services professionals don't do competitive analysis. They don't follow up with companies that interview their competition to see how their students stacked up against the other schools. This should be done on a daily basis. Then, once this knowledge is obtained, the career services professionals need to use this information to better serve their clients.

Also, many career services professionals have not, in their professional career, done any competitive analysis on their competition's career websites. Thus, they can't serve their clients are best as possible because they don't know how the other teams write resumes, answer certain interview questions, approach the job hunt or just about any other aspect that could be deciphered with a 2 minute analysis.

They Are In Sales and Need to Make Outbound Calls

Unless a school is an Ivy-League institution, career center employees have to understand that the recruiting process is a 50 / 50. This entails making outbound calls to companies that are currently hiring or that are very reputable and are currently not looking at their students.

Most career service professionals never make outbound calls and, subsequently don't service their $50,000,000 worth of clientele to the fullest extent possible. Businesses, to sustain this revenue, fight tooth and nail to keep their clients satisfied. To a business, to ensure client satisfaction, getting their hands dirty with a few cold-calls and, subsequently starting a sales cycle to better the experience of their client is something they are more than willing to do. Actually, in most cases, they enjoy the challenge. This is not something that be done by someone who ducks out of the office at 5:30 because their TiVo is getting full.

It Is Their Fault If Students Don't Come to the Career Center

Students are not just magically going to appear in the career services center and a lot of career services professionals use this as an excuse. There are no excuses when carrying a $50,000,000 quota. You execute; you don't leave at 5, you don't get complacent with 20 people showing up for your resume speech, you go out and hunt.

Most career center professionals do a lackluster job of getting the students in their office. In this case, their clients (the professors) need them to do so. They have to close the deal, but don't want to come to terms with the fact that "sales" which is a bad word to most career services professionals is part of their job description. However, with most career centers, excuses are tossed around like pre-made pizza pies regarding this aspect of their job.

Also, many don't even think of the fact that there are psychology professors steps away who exist and could better help them understand as to why they are not getting the students in their office. Career service professionals, the majority of them, have access to hundreds of free consultants. How many companies can say this? How many career services professionals can say that they use their consultants?

The Career Website Should Contain No Less Than 100 Articles - Most Original

There are CEOs who run million dollar corporations and who, maybe don't type themselves, but write books. Presidents who run nations still find the time to write memoires. I manage 14 people and still write for marketing purposes. Most career service professionals, after 5 p.m. have no loyalty to the needs of their clients. It's as if they are a call center employee who jumps out of their seat the minute the clock ticks and their shift ends.

They don't act like an executive carrying this kind of quota. Their clients need resume help. How many resumes (actual samples) for each kind of graduate does the career services professionals have linked?

They Don't Understand Basic Management Skills

Instead of forming a team, it seems that most career services professionals like to be hung up on the fact that they have an "assistant." Instead of basic management 101 skills, these individuals like to make it known that they think of their assistant as only an assistant. When was the last time this "assistant" was given the autonomy to help carry out the aforementioned activities for the large account?

Headhunters Los Angeles Sales Recruiters

Sales Recruiters Washington DC Recruiters

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Housekeeping Services - Business Aspects and Importance

Housekeeping services are procedures to maintain neatness and cleanliness at different property types. Corporate houses hire professional providers to get their office spotless and create a nice working environment. Besides, housekeeping service providers offer services for houses, estates, hospitals and other establishments.

The emergence of housekeeping services India has witnessed in the recent times is worth taking a note. Many professional companies all over the country are involved in providing general and advanced house cleaning services. Go through the following discussion to learn the type of services expected from housekeeping professionals.

Floor Cleaning

Professional housekeeping services offer cleaning services for all types of floors, including concrete floors marble floors, wooden floors and tiled floors. Corridors, entrance areas and stairways are also cleaned by these professionals. Cleaning of floor includes services like sweeping and mopping.

Carpet Cleaning

Keeping the carpet clean is one of the challenges faced by home and office owners. Professional housekeeping offers carpet cleaning as a part of their package. These cleaning professionals remove sand, dirt, foreign matter and other things from the carpet. Carpet shampooing and vacuum cleaning are the services offered by these professionals.

Waste Disposal Services

Housekeeping services are helpful in getting the waste from house or office disposed easily without facing any inconvenience. Most of the home and office owners find it frustrating to dispose off the garbage and other types of wastes. Getting the garbage disposed off with professional services is a practical solution.

Furniture and Upholstery Cleaning

Furniture items like couches catch dust and dirt with the passage of time, but cleaning them is a big challenge. You can relay on professional services like house keeping to keep these items clean. These services are applicable to upholstery and various equipments as well.

Odor and Pest Control

Anther task performed by the professional housekeeping service providers are controlling bad odors that might result from different sources. Leakage of water and flood water are some of the causes for bad odors. This services can also be hired for pest control at homes, offices and estates. Rats, rodents, lizards, cockroaches and many types of insects pose a great problem for the property owners. Getting them terminated using professionals is a good solution.

Glass Cleaning

Housekeeping services also involve professional glass cleaning services, especially for corporate houses with huge glasses installed in their premises. Glass cleaning needs to be efficient to keep the glass surface spotless. At the same time, this must be done with great safety. Professional cleaning services are recommended for the same.

Building Maintenance

Building maintenance involves inspecting different parts of the building regularly. Checking electric faults, water leakage and other types of repair work are other tasks performed by the hired housekeeping professionals.

Housekeeping services can be hired for commercial buildings like shopping malls and departmental stores. Hospitals and health care clinics are also among the establishments that can take advantage of these services. Housekeeping service providers make use of authorized cleaning products and solutions, latest cleaning equipments and safe and efficient techniques to deliver most desirable cleaning services.

Author has wide knowledge of B2B Marketplace and Products Directory. For housekeeping services and other related service industry catalog in India, visit Catalogs.indiaMART.com

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Kick Start Your Business With a Professional Answering Service

Professional answering services are a great resource for companies that are either starting from scratch or expanding into new territory. Outsourcing to a professional telecommunications and contact support service ensures that your company's customer service is second to none. Contracting with a great answering service satisfies customers and boosts your ratings. Conversely, contracting with a poor choice could be a catalyst initiating disaster.

So how can a company tell that their answering service is the right one for them? There are many traits of an excellent support provider that a company can watch out for. An answering service, one that values customer service and treats a client's business matters professionally, is a company that has these following features:

Extensive, up-to-date training. Great contact centers don't let a live operator near a phone without extensive, up-to-date training. Superior vendors know that not only should a live operator get over 40 hours of training, they should also constantly have updates to that training, ensuring that the live operators always provide efficient, professional service. These answering services also update training each time a company contracts with them, making sure each company gets service that suits them.

Tailored services. Each company is different with what they value and what they desire as far as services. The finest answering services are able to find out exactly which services a company needs and deliver, whether they require specific scripts, certain hours of operation, or a particular type of accent or voice. The best providers will keep tweaking the services until the client is 100% satisfied.

More than typical service options. Choice answering services will not only have the customary call answering and forwarding services, but will also have seen the need for more varied and niche services. Premium answering services will offer services like order-taking, voice-mail and message alerts, and faxing services.

Choosing a professional service helps companies forge a path to success, allowing customers to see them in a pleasant light. Professional answering services rise above the industry standard to ensure that companies get a consistent level of satisfaction and excellence.

Robert Porter is the President and CEO of 1-800 We Answer Answering Service, a full service telecommunications company providing a complete range of answering service, call center, voice mail, fax, mail receiving, ordertaking, telemarketing and phone system services to businesses and individuals.

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How Utilizing an Answering Service Can Keep Your Business Growing Even in a Sluggish Economy

Even in a sluggish economy there are smart solutions that can help grow your business or better service your business, to keep or add to your client/patient database. Let us start with one solution that is not utilized often enough by companies and medical practices. Many progressive companies and practices utilize the services of an answering service. Why's that, you may ask? It's simple: they understand the importance of staying in touch with their customer, clients or patients whenever it's necessary for them to call their company or medical facility. Or at a minimum, allow them an after hour calling service option for their callers. They realize servicing these calls either on an overflow or after hours basis at times is not only necessary, but a value-added service. Another reason why is to seamlessly have their calls covered. What company/practice can afford to miss a call?

Industry leading answering service companies have been providing a wide array of services for companies and medical professionals/practices for as long as the telephone has been a business tool. They are well aware that the first voice a customer/prospect/patient hears is important.

A sour tone, an unfriendly voice doesn't help your business in any way. Nor does hearing a voicemail message or that recorded "Our offices are now closed" message. The best answering service only hires and offers to its clients the best trained and articulate operators in the industry. Answering service companies are well aware that the voice they first hear truly matters.

Answering services exist that are well suited to help you better service and sell your business/practice. These services include: a complete call center, voicemail service, fax to e-mail service, business systems installation of phones from cable to phone selection and installation to creating your telecom infrastructure.

The best answering service companies have grown successful by listening attentively to their clients and offering them services they've truly needed. Your business or practice can and should do the same. Whether you need overflow call coverage after hours or at a peak seasonal selling time, you cannot afford to miss any calls. A mail order catalog company I know utilized the answering service solution and their sales grow. How? Well, while their sales staff was asleep, answering service operators were taking their calls after hours, especially from the west coast clients and prospects that had that recently received their new catalog in the mail.Their answering service was capable of servicing these calls and even helping people navigate on the company's web site and providing some helpful product information. When the sales staff arrived in the morning there were numerous messages left for all of their sales representatives. As a result, many of those calls received and handled by the answering service lead to actual sales.

What too many companies overlook is that a quality and professional answering service can practically become a partner, a sales and service partner without any legal paperwork or percentages owed or owned by another individual. And that's how any business or practice can creatively grow their business.

A reliable and well established answering service company is capable of being that partner. They can successfully play that role for you at an affordable price, offer flexible billing options and provide all the expensive new technology and telecom equipment, along with a skilled staff of operators that will be available when you need them. The answering service that your company chooses should back-up their services with a skilled staff of customer service and IT professionals. You shouldn't feel pressured you into signing any long-term contracts. Your answering service should want to earn your business over the long-term. And that to me is a good and old-fashioned way of doing business the right way. Good and trusted relationships over time usually pay off in more ways than one.

An answering service can also be your virtual office service provider. Virtual Office companies allow smaller companies or businesses and practices of one or two people, to appear bigger, which often times is better. Especially if your company is competing for a big piece of business and you can't afford to come often as a 1-2 person business. More importantly, an answering service will cover your calls when need be and to relay those important incoming messages in a variety of ways; via e-mail, phone or PDA. This excellent, no need to worry call coverage allows you to be out more often with your important clients or prospects which obviously is the prime way to grow your business.

Okay, you can't wait for that small stimulus check and hope fully you'll put it to good use. Or for business sake, utilizing an answering service can be a think outside the box approach as well as creative solution to partner with a productive service company to grow your business.

Robert Porter is the President and CEO of 1-800 We Answer Answering Service, a full service telecommunications company providing a complete range of answering service, call center, voice mail, fax, mail receiving, ordertaking, telemarketing and phone system services to businesses and individuals.

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"Impostor" Service Dogs - Is Your Business Prepared?

I am an international access consultant and disability advocate. For the past ten years, since first becoming partnered with my own service dog, I have fought for the rights of service dog handlers who experienced illegal access denial (the illegal refusal of an establishment to grant entry to a partnered team).

The common denominator in all access denials is lack of education. Unfortunately, many businesses do not make it a priority to educate their employees in disability rights and sensitivity training; and as a result, suffer very costly lessons for their oversight. An employee's ignorance of access rights does not excuse the denial of those rights, and will not prevent incurring the stiff penalty that violating them carries.

Access denial is a huge, widespread problem throughout the service dog community, and not surprisingly, handlers with invisible disabilities have the most issues with access denial. However, just because you can't see someone's disability, doesn't mean that they don't suffer from it; and all the challenges that it presents. Persons with invisible disabilities cannot be denied the same rights as someone with visible disabilities; education and sensitivity training are key to the prevention of this type of disability discrimination.

For ten years I've been advocating for handlers' rights, mediating in pre-court cases, and educating businesses about disabilities and their rights and responsibilities towards their disabled clientele. I've worked tirelessly to preserve the rights of service dog handlers everywhere, and to promote the wonderful benefits that service dogs provide for their partners with disabilities in order to help foster a more compassionate and accepting attitude towards these incredible canines. My work has opened many doors previously closed to service dog teams, and I am fully committed to opening many more.

Recently, I've gained a new and unexpected clientele-business owners who believe that their establishment had been visited by (and in many cases, damaged by) "impostor" service dogs.

"Impostor" or "fake" service dogs are a growing problem throughout America. This is the canine version of illegally parking in a handicapped parking space. Many people have forgone any type of morality and have obtained vests and attached patches to illegally gain entry to public places with their pet dogs.

As unbelievable as it sounds, some offenders believe that their dog should be allowed to go with them everywhere and can't see the harm in passing off just one dog, others know it is illegal, but do it anyway because they lack any sense of wrongdoing; and still others believe that they are truly justified because they have an emotional disorder and having their pet dog with them eases their symptoms. Many of the latter have notes written by their doctors testifying to the fact that their dog helps to ease symptoms of emotional disorders; and so, they feel fully justified in having their dog in a public place, claiming it to be a service dog.

No matter what the reason, the simple fact of the matter is this: passing off any dog that is not specifically trained as per the Americans with Disability Act, state, and local laws is illegal (a federal offense) and carries federal penalties.

In the case of the emotional support dog, these dogs (while serving a great and positive purpose); are not service dogs. Many people have taken the ADA's version of the law and twisted it to fit their own situation---but they've missed a very important fact: In order to meet the legal requirements needed to earn the title of service dog, the dog must be individually trained as a service dog, and the dog must be specifically trained to do tasks. If a dog does nothing more than accompany a person into an establishment to "keep them focused" or "ease anxiety", they are not in compliance with federal law that specifically requires task training.

It costs $15,000-$20,000.00 to train a service dog. The high cost reflects intensive and high level training that takes hundreds of hours that ensure the dog to be obedient and able to perform its job in a variety of situations. Pet dogs are simply not equipped to deal with many unforeseen public distractions that service dogs have been carefully and meticulously prepared for. Owner-trained service dogs who have not met the same training standards are ill-equipped to deal with such stressors, and oftentimes, their handlers have not been educated in all of the laws and responsibilities that they are required to adhere to. This combination is an accident waiting to happen.

It is infuriating that while most service dog handlers invest the large cost and countless hours to properly train their service dogs, a growing number of impostors are simply mail ordering vests, slapping on patches and claiming their pet dog to be a service dog-then having the audacity to dare anyone to confront them on it; claiming protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the very law that they themselves are in violation of.

In the past week, several "faux" handlers, claiming to have had their "rights" violated by a business or establishment, have contacted me for access representation. Upon closer inspection in each of these cases, the dog in question damaged property (one bit several people), created a disturbance, or defecated and was asked by management to leave. None of these dogs had task training, and none had any formal training of any kind on record. These were pet dogs whose owners decided one day that now they were going to be service dogs, got a little note from their doctor (who is not versed in service dog law), and illegally sited the ADA as protection from eviction from a public place-and then contacted me to advocate for them! Guess what? Doesn't work that way.

Congress is fully aware and outraged at such behavior and is currently working on a bill that tightens the ADA's definition of a service dog and increases the severity of penalties in response to this growing, and potentially dangerous problem.

Pet dogs that have not received the proper socialization, high-level obedience, distraction and task training are apt to misbehave or even bite in high stress environments. Their ill behavior gives real service dogs a bad rap, and service dog handlers are having even more difficulties with access. In addition, business owners who have had experiences with "impostor" service dogs are less than jubilant to see a real service dog come into their establishment, and the business-client relationship is strained.

This is not an article that I could ever have imagined myself writing. I am a staunch advocate for service dog handlers; and have a reputation for my successful access award cases. To imagine myself on the "other side" representing Corporate America against a handler simply boggles my mind---but then, I could never have imagined that people could be so untruthful and so morally corrupt as to take advantage of a law that protects the rights of people with disabilities.

To think that many people are "cheating," by passing off untrained (or barely trained) pets as service dogs when so many handlers are spending incredible amounts of money and taking the time to properly train their service dog to the level of a highly-obedient and task-trained canine, is infuriating. The immorality of this issue propels me to set out on a new mission to right a tremendous wrong that is being played out against real service dog handlers throughout this country; ones who have taken the time and expense to abide by the law and painstakingly trained their dogs (and themselves) to the letter of the law.

For business owners who feel you may have been invaded by an "impostor" service dog, feel free to contact me for consultation and rectification in this matter. You are not expected or required to sit idly by while an untrained and illegal impostor causes your business damage or threatens the smooth running of your establishment.

There are legal steps that can be taken to stop these impostors in their tracks, and assistance in helping you to recoup damages. Current law provides for stiff federal penalties-even for first time offenders; and I'll be more than happy to assist bringing each one to justice on behalf of service dog teams everywhere.

If you are in doubt as to whether a dog is a real service dog, you may legally ask the following:

1. Do you have a documented disability? (Note: you may not ask what the disability is)

2. Is that a trained service dog? If the answer is yes, and you still doubt the validity of the team; you may ask what the dog specifically does for the person with disabilities.

Any properly trained team has been fully versed in the law, knows their rights and responsibilities and will have no issue answering such questions. Alternatively, if a person balks at answering these questions, or becomes unreasonably defensive; you may be dealing with an impostor. You may want to consider phoning the police to intervene.

If the dog enters your establishment and exhibits any type of behavior not expected of a service dog (urinating/defecating, damaging goods, sniffing/bothering other customers, barking, growling, snapping, etc...) you are well within your rights to ask them to leave. If the dog or its equipment is not clean (visibly dirty or emits an unpleasant odor), you are within your rights to ask them to leave. If the handler gives you any trouble; call the state police barracks nearest your location (state patrolmen are trained in the ADA whereas most local policemen are not).

For illegal handlers with "impostor" or "non-task trained" dogs; beware---Uncle Sam, the entire service dog community, and myself are onto you, and we're cracking down.

--Kimberly Carnevale
Canine and Abled, Inc.

About the author: Kimberly Carnevale is an author, disability advocate, and motivational speaker. She is the President and founder of Canine and Abled, Inc. (the award-winning program featured on TV, magazines and her first book). She is invited to speak nationally on service dog law, business service dog education (including policy and procedure revision/implementation), and corporate motivation.

Kimberly presents her award winning educational and character-building assembly to schools, scout troops and other youth organizations throughout the country, and has been published numerous times nationally and internationally as an expert in her field.

Ms. Carnevale is available to advocate for the rights of service dog handlers (who fully meet the requirements of " disabled" and "service dog" as per the ADA), and to businesses who feel they have encountered "impostor" service dogs in their establishment.

Kimberly also consults in service dog training/acquisition and plans to build a training/provision center in the near future. She can be reached through her organization's website: http://www.canineandabled.com

Copyright 2008 by Kimberly Carnevale and Sarah Lynn Communications, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved

About the author: Kimberly is first and foremost a proud, single Mom to four-year-old, Sarah. She is a successful author and motivational speaker. In 1999, Kimberly founded Canine and Abled, Inc., an award-winning program that advocates for service dog handlers and educates about the benefits of service dogs. Her first book, "Canine and Abled, Taking The Dis Out of Disabled" was published in 2004 and details Kimberly's former career as an Olympic hopeful to the founding of the much acclaimed educational program. To contact: http://www.KimberlyCarnevale.com

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Press Release Wire Services - Choosing the Best One For Your Business

When looking into the press release distribution for your business, you might be overwhelmed with the options. In addition to traditional wires, there are many new web-based services. Choosing the right one for your business sometimes requires trial and error. The following press release provide a similar service, but they all have differences in how they present information, and how effective they are especially in the area of search engine optimization.

By looking at the facts and combining the opinions of Christine Slocumb, the owner and founder of an internet marketing firm with 17 years of experience, and Dena Boutsikakis, someone who is just starting in the marketing business, we hope to help narrow your decision as to which wire service is best suited for you.

Marketwire

Upon first seeing the Marketwire (marketwire.com) website, its bold color choice makes it stand out more than the other websites. The layout is very simple and very clean in its appearance. It has very few tabs, but once you start clicking on the tabs, it leads you to other links, which easily navigates you through the website. Marketwire speaks to the busy person that does not have a lot of time, with which most business owners and employees identify. However, you are not able to look at packages or other information about the service you will get until you have opened an account with them.

Dena: The first thing I noticed was the color choice of this website. It was different than all the rest, so it stood out in my mind. In addition, the way it was set up was different then the rest of the press release service websites. I had to navigate through many different tabs to find what I wanted. In addition, the wording of the website was also different from what I was reading before. However, on many pages it does say for further questions to contact them, but for a busy person, everything should be clear and straight forward.

Christine: We've recently switched to using Marketwire almost exclusively for technology companies. You'll find many of the progressive tech companies in Silicon Valley use this service which speaks volumes They have very competitive rates compared to PR Newswire and BusinessWire.

While their SEO console is not as polished as PR Web's reports, we get excellent media pickup. Marketwire's ability to keep anchor text link intact when displaying on MSNBC.com and Yahoo! News is impressive. We also recommend Marketwire for local market releases that need SEO on a budget. For example, you can get regional wire coverage plus SEO features such as reporting and anchor text links starting at $220, significantly below PR Web's $249 entry-level SEO package. Plus even state-only distributions are often picked up on MSNBC.com, CNN Money and similar sites.

In addition, we get great friendly support from our Account Representatives and their client support team. We tweeted some results in comparing Marketwire to PRWeb and our account rep called a day later to thank us for the mention.

PR Newswire

PR Newswire (prnewswire.com) is one of the first press release wire services, with a large client base, because of its efficient and professional setting. It is a very helpful website, because of its mass amounts of information. When clicking on a tab or a link, there is always information that explains its function to the viewer; proving its helpfulness and ease. In addition, there are also many spots within the website that allow for the consumer to add their feedback. There are also many interesting features that one can use to enhance their service. They offer a eWatch service that monitors and tracks your press release. It automatically emails you with any changes. In addition, PR Newswire offers MEDIatlas which distributes your press releases 24/7 automatically to over 460,000 contacts. There is also a free service called ProfNet, which connects you to many experts in each field. These features are all optional but according to PR Newswire are very useful. However, one thing to keep in mind is that sending a press release through them is very expensive, thus for starting businesses it might not be in your best interest to spend the extra money.

Dena: I was very impressed with this websites appearance. It was very clear and organized, while giving the user a large amount of information. In addition, I also felt that as a consumer of their service, I mattered, because of their feedback option. As stated before PR Newswire, also has a lot of features that make it easy for the small business owner to track his/her release, like the eWatch option. However, I do wonder if all these things are necessary, or if they are just another ploy to collect money. Nevertheless, if they are as good as they say they are it might be worth it for those really newsworthy releases.

Christine: When I first started issuing press releases, this was THE wire service everyone used. It's the oldest, largest, and most expensive newswire service. However, their delay in adopting new SEO technology was a big mistake. Also, the Account Managers assigned to us were not helpful and turned over frequently. We rarely use this service anymore unless it's a co-release with a large corporation that requires we use this wire. The online pickup of releases is quite good, but no better than BusinessWire. Friendliness and helpfulness of account reps varies across the country.

BusinessWire

BusinessWire (businesswire.com) has a similar feel to it as PR Newswire. They provide all the basic information about sending press releases, but also offer a little more. They have a section that will actually help you write a press release, for those who are not sure how. In addition it clearly shows the distribution of where your press release will go, and who will view it. Another helpful tool is that the website comes in five different languages. This can be very helpful if you are doing business with companies overseas, or simply for people whose first language is not English.

Dena: When first seeing this website I was impressed with the ability to change languages, even though they only had five from which to choose. I also thought that this was a fairly easy website to navigate through. However, upon first glance I did think it was a little to plain with just text, it did not make me want to explore it more. It is a decent website that has helpful information; I would say it was average.

Christine: BusinessWire is large but progressive. It's just about as expensive as PR Newswire for a wire release. As of March 2009, you can no longer get the combination BusinessWire/PRWeb package. Instead BusinessWire launched EON by BusinessWire (eonbusinesswire.com) as a online distribution service starting at $295 per release. We have not used this service yet, however, there seem to be problems with sites picking up anchor text links which is an issue for search engine optimization of the release. If your linked text does not show up on Yahoo! News and similar sites, it's a big negative.

PRWeb

PRWeb (prweb.com) has a wealth of information and is user friendly. It is an online distribution service and not a wire service which is an important distinction. On the homepage it has the most recent press releases within fourteen days, rated by "importance" which depends on how much the sender paid for the release. One helpful feature is their "release features" tab, which will tell you everything you need to know about your press release. They have broken it down to four packages. Each package states what it offers and how much it costs. This lets the business or agency know what they are going to be offered right away, while also keeping in mind budget. In addition, if you are not clear as to why you should use a press release wire service, PRWeb has a YouTube" video which plainly and cleverly describes why, by showing the benefits. Along with the video, there are many picture and descriptions throughout the website that further guide you. In addition, PRWeb also has helpful tips and samples on how to write a press release, making sure your best work is distributed.

Dena: Personally, I feel as though this is the easiest to navigate through, and the most inviting. It still looks very professional, but makes press release writing and distributing seem very simple. They even state that all you have to do are follow their three easy steps. I also liked how everything was laid out for me, and I did not have to make an account to see pricing and features. However, the one thing that impressed me the most was the YouTube" video. Being that I am just starting in this business, I found it very helpful. In addition, PRWeb's pricing seemed to be reasonable; basically you get what you pay for.

Christine: This is probably the most well-known online distribution service although the backlink quality is not always the best. We do get amazing results on this wire for special interest B2C press releases such as travel and tourism offers. They also have great offers every once in awhile such as the free Podcast interviews when they first introduced the Podcast service.

PressZoom

PressZoom is a budget friendly way to distribute your press release. The look of the website is very modern and clean, with no pictures and a lot of writing. PressZoom does give a lot of helpful tips about press release writing. For example, how not to make your press release look like an advertisement, thus making it susceptible to go into spam mail. Basic distribution is nineteen dollars, but you have an option of a free XML feed. There is also an option of premium distribution that is only forty-seven dollars, that guarantees a wide variety of options. In addition, there is no account making necessary, and if you use the premium distribution option your press release will go out quickly.

Dena: At first glance I was not very impressed with the website. I thought it too simple and boring. There seems to be little information on the website. However, if you do want something simple and quick it might be a viable option.

Press Media Wire

Press Media Wire is very similar to the other websites that offer press release wire services. It is helpful in the fact that it offers a simple FAQ sectional that gets questions you might have answered quickly. In addition, it also has three press release packages laid out with all the options that each one offers. You are able to submit a press release from twenty dollars to one hundred dollars, each has an option of two day or three day distribution. Press Media Wire also shows where your press release will be distributed, proving helpful if you want a specific category. Another important feature is that Press Media Wire offers free press release, for those who quickly want to get their news out.

Dena: I thought that Press Media Wire was very helpful, by laying out all their information. I like to know what options I am getting before I waste time making an account. I also thought the fact that they offer free distribution is cleaver, because they are going to get more people to access their website, and maybe later start paying for it.

Emailwire

Emialwire has no annual fees when making an account. Also, unlimited amounts of press releases can be sent for a flat rate. In addition, there are no fees if your press release goes over their wanted length, and also for any videos or images. Your news is delivered through other major wire services, allowing your release to reach more people. In addition to these options Emailwire offers EmailWireClip" for free. This allows you to view your press release on online news sites, newswires, databases and search engines.

Dena: I thought that the appearance of this website was dull, but its options were not. It seems to be user friendly by offering all of these options for free. However, one thing that I found distracting was all the advertisements on the side. Some advertisements were inappropriate for a press release wire service website which might make some users leave the site.

Eworldwire

One interesting thing Eworldwire shows that most other press release wire services do not are the features of their competing websites. On their homepage, Eworldwire compares their features with those of other websites, showing why their service is better. In addition, Eworldwire prides itself in meeting the needs of their users. Eworldwire makes sure your press release goes to the webpages that will most benefit you. In addition, the most basic press release distribution service only costs seventy-five dollars. However, they do have a large variety of other distribution options that offer everything from podcasts to University Press Newslines. Eworldwire also gives advice about what will catch a journalist's attention in only 2.7 seconds, because that is how much time it takes to see if a press release is interesting.

Dena: I like how this website has a lot of different options for distributing your press release, and how it also tells you the cost of each. It is also interesting that they put the price in US dollars and in British pounds, showing their business with other countries.

24-7 Press Release

24-7 Press Release is a fairly new and affordable press release service that offers forty-eight hour submission approval, to over four hundred channels. 24-7 Press Release also has a helpful FAQ section that shows you exactly how a press release on their website will look. They have an option to send your press release free over the web, or to pay as little as fifty dollars for basic distribution. However, they do have other packages that allow for much faster and better quality distribution, which is priced around $349. They also offer a featured press release option that puts your press release on the top three of that day. This will guarantee more hits and easier access for viewers.

Dena: I was impressed with the layout of this website. I thought it was very professional and very easy to navigate. It had information for the publisher, journalist and advertiser, which many other websites do not show upfront. I also found it very helpful because of the package information was upfront, and there was a useful FAQ page.

PR Free

Although the word "Free" is in the title, there is nothing free about this site. The minimum "contribution" to distribute a press release is thirty dollars. Even though this is not a large amount, PR Free does not state how much it will cost until you have entered in your press release and are about to click "Submit." Nevertheless, this website is the only press release distribution service that is backed by "a true wire service, Eworldwire." It also states that it is the only press release service that actually has copywriters and people with journalistic experience working for them. PR Free also gives hints about what a good press rerelease is. In addition, it gives ten most common "blunders" that can make your press release be ignored.

Dena: At first I was impressed with this site, because it gives information about how to write and submit a press release. However, after I realized that it said it was free but then made you make a contribution to submit your press release, I felt deceived. Overall, it might be a good place to put your release but keep in mind that there might be better for free.

PR Leap

PR Leap is a fairly new company that was started in 2003 and is quickly growing. They have more than 30,000 organizations as of December 2007. PR Leap has discontinued their free service, but their paid service is not very expensive, only costing around fifty dollars. There is a small biography about the owners of PR Leap, and much more information about their company on the company blog. In addition, they have a very helpful question and answer page, where most questions about their services can be answered.

Dena: This website seems fairly simple, with basic information about the services. From looking at the blog I can tell that the owners really enjoy what they are doing, and seem to care about the user. They keep the user updated, by posting many articles on their blog. However, they did have some difficulties with their website last month because of "pay hold" bug, but the problem was fixed rather quickly.

FREE Press Release Wire Services

The Open Press

The Open Press is a very professional website that offers the distribution of press releases for free. The free press releases will only show the release with plain text and it will only be on The Open Press for six months. In addition, they reject about thirty percent of the press releases and do not allow you to fix your mistakes and repost. However, they do have another option, press release with stars, which puts your press release on The Open Press' PRO PR section. This ranks it higher on other websites, allowing for more viewers. The minimum price for this option is ten dollars and if you would like more stars, which gives you more options, then it is around fifty dollars. Another perk is that your press release will stay on the website for a year rather than six months. The Open Press also provides you with email alerts about your press release, making it easier to track.

Dena: Overall it seems to be very professional. It is a very helpful website, with how to write a release, and how to send it. It also gives you most of your options upfront. However, for being a free press release site it does have a lot of rules. When posting your article, there is an extensive list of "don'ts." One thing that I did find interesting is that there is no room to edit. If they do not like your article then they will not post it, and you do not have a chance to edit it; this is something that most other websites allow you to do.

Christine: Free postings to this site recently resulted in some great organic rankings on Google.

Newswire Today

There is no fee to make an account with Newswire Today, and also no fee to send out a press release. They offer the basic options for free press release distribution. For example, your submission is published in the order it was received, with third party advertisements. However, they do have a Premium option in which your press release is published the same day, with a company logo, statistics, and no third party advertisements. The Premium option can range from ninety-five dollars to four hundred dollars.

Dena: In comparison to the other free press release wire service websites, this one was the simplest to do. Even though I used their free option they published my press release rather quickly after I submitted it. One problem that I did come across was that the date of my press release was changed after I tried to resubmit. I tried to change it after editing, but it would not allow me to. However, there is a company number that you can call for all questions.

My Free PR

My Free PR offers free distribution of press releases. Its layout and navigation of this website is a little more complicated than the other sites. Every link that you click has another one that comes up, and then another one, and eventually you lose track of where you wanted to go. In addition, there is very little information about the actual website and what it can offer.

Dena: This website is confusing. Every time I wanted to see something on their site, it led me to another place. Also, when submitting a press release it does not have a place for keywords, making it harder for people to find your press release.

Beyond Wire Services

In addition to traditional PR sites, some trade and social media sites will let you post your release for free.

Pitchengine

We can't say enough about this new social media PR site. Because it's based on the Ning social media platform, Google indexed entries within a matter of hours. Releases posted on PitchEngine (pitchengine.com) often outrank wire service listings on search engine ranking pages. The site lets you create a newsroom for each company complete with graphics, logos and a description. Each release can contain photos, videos, and links to RSS feeds along with the release copy. It also provides social media forwarding icons and a shortened URL which you can use to pitch the media or on Twitter.

It's currently free to post a release on Pitchengine. There is a fee if you want to create a newsroomor archive the releases after 30 days.

Pro-Talk

A set of sites that is especially interesting for technology company releases is the Pro-Talk family of sites (pro-talk.com) Releases posted on EngineeringTalk and LaboratoryTalk have brought significant amount of traffic to our clients' websites in addition to a page rank=6 quality back link.

Hopefully these summaries will help you narrow down which press release wire service will be best suited for you. We will continue to update this list as more press release wire services come to our attention.

Christine Slocumb has 17 years of marketing, business development, and product management experience in Fortune 50 and startup firms. Christine has worked with technology firms on marketing strategy, business planning and marketing implementation. Clarity Quest is a leading technology marketing firm.

Dena Boutsikakis is a former marketing intern at Clarity Quest Marketing.

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